The Kingdom

Phil takes Christians to task for bringing politics into religion instead of forcing their politics to align with their faith. He alludes to some of these verses:

Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself. John 6:15

6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:6-8

Phil’s point in this episode, in case you don’t catch on, is that the Church (in the US) should focus on being witnesses of the Gospel through love rather than self-appointed royal emissaries obsessed with establishing God’s Kingdom now.

For more of Phil’s thoughts on this topic, check out this blog post from a few years ago.